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Concealed gun ruling due Friday

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited January 2002 in General Discussion
Concealed gun ruling due Friday
By Kimball Perry, Post staff reporterJudges will announce Friday if they will lift a 13-day-old stay that continues to make carrying a concealed weapon in Hamilton County a crime. Current law Under current Ohio law, the only defense against carrying a concealed weapon is an ''affirmative defense'' in which those arrested must prove in court they need the weapon for their own safety.If Judge Robert Ruehlman's rul ing stands, Hamilton Countians will be allowed to carry concealed weap ons if they adhere to other laws. A three judge panel of the Cincinnati-based Ohio First District Court of Appeals - Mark Painter, Rupert Doan and Lee Hildebrandt Jr. - heard lawyers for Ohio, Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati argue Tuesday why they believe a decision by Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman shouldn't take effect.Ruehlman, in a Jan. 11 ruling, declared Ohio's law prohibitting law-abiding citizens from carrying a concealed weapon unconstitutional, saying the current law violates the Ohio Constitution's guarantee of the right to bear arms.On the same day, the appeals court issued a stay, effectively saying Ruehlman's ruling couldn't take effect until it was reviewed by the appeals court.The three appeals court judges heard arguments from both sides Tuesday on the stay. John Arnold, a Hamilton County assistant prosecutor, argued that the stay should remain in place because otherwise some 40 pending Common Pleas Court cases involving carrying a concealed weapon would be thrown out.''(But) If Judge Ruehlman is right, you would be continuing to be prosecuting people who didn't break the law?'' noted Painter.Darrell Pierre of the Ohio Attorney General's Office said lifting the stay would make it difficult for Ohio State Patrol officers working in Hamilton County to interpret the law because it wouldn't change in Ohio's 87 other counties.''(Officers) are capable of denoting county lines, I presume,'' Doan countered.The lawyers who lost in Ruehlman's ruling argued that Ohio's lawmakers - not its judges - should rewrite the law if it is unfair.''The job of the court is not to keep unconstitutional statutes in effect until the Legislature gets around to passing a constitutional statute,'' countered Tim Smith, one of the attorneys for those seeking to overturn the law.Any decision likely will be appealed to Ohio's Supreme Court.Painter said the appeals court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law in April.Fewer than 10 states still outlaw carrying a concealed weapon. http://www.cincypost.com/2002/jan/23/guns012302.html
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